Tax Cuts Part II

In the below post there are a few things I want to clarify. First, I was not trying to be biased in my comment about taking from the rich to give to the poor. There are few people (Scrooge excepted) who think that people with more have no responsibility to help those who have less, the argument that arises is whether the government should have a hand in the sharing; liberals say it should, conservatives say it shouldn't (as a rule). I recognize that's not where all taxes go, its just where a lot of them go. Conservatives also believe that taxes go to a lot of things they probably shouldn't (like Planned Parenthood).

Also, low taxes will not expand the economy no matter what else happens. Low taxes tend to help grow the economy. Let me reiterate, tend to help. The economy can still struggle when the taxes are lower than they were the year before, and it can still grow when the reverse is true. Taxes are only one of many factors that effect the size of the economy, lowering taxes will not cause the economy to boom by itself, though it will tend to have a helpful effect. Raising taxes will not tank an economy by itself, but when a number of other factors (such as uncertainty, heavy regulation, and too many government mandated programs) are putting pressure on the economy, raising taxes will only put more weight on an already overloaded economy.

My comparison of Texas and New York was a comparison of the best and the worst, but it cannot be explained simply by natural resources. Yes, having massive amounts of oil sitting under your state might help you with the trucking industry (which California ran off), but it doesn't necessarily help you lure in the tech industry. New York has been increasing taxes and programs at a staggering rate, and businesses have been leaving the state equally fast. New York taxed productivity to pay for people who were not being productive. It shouldn't be surprising then that productivity in the state plummeted, and their programs are going bankrupt.

There is no silver bullet to reviving the economy, and the government's job is not to micromanage it. The answer is not no government regulation, but neither is it heavy regulation beyond reason. The answer is a balanced solution that utilizes all the assets we have available.